Reversal
by SPT
Summary: Can John figure out his feelings before he hurts the one he loves? SLASH
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first SGA fic and first slash fic; I'm not usually one to like slash, but these two just fit really well for me. There'll be more to come soon, so PLEASE let me know what you think, constructive critism is very welcome.**

Col John Sheppard smiled with satisfaction as the stargate came into view; that smile was then turned on his team as they strode along beside him. Yup, it was a great day; it'd been a full two weeks since anyone had shot at them; the weather had been absolutely gorgeous the entire five days they'd been here; and they didn't even have to perform any crazy native rituals to seal the trade agreement. Of course the best part of his day was going to be reuniting with the love of his life in about ten minutes; who knew five days could feel so long.

Teyla glanced at Sheppard, seeing the far off look in his eyes she knew exactly where his mind was. "I see that you are anxious to return to Atlantis, Col."

John gave her a sheepish grin, "yeah, I guess I am." They'd only been together a few months, but apparently the attraction had been obvious to everyone but them for much longer than that.

"Yes, yes, and we're all very happy that you both finally managed to jump on the get-a-clue bus, but do you have pine away for each other every second that you're separated." McKay roughly punched in the gate address for Atlantis; in truth, he was very happy for his friends; but the thought of sleeping in his own bed had him nearly as anxious to get back to Atlantis as Sheppard was. His body was simply not made for sleeping on a straw mat.

The tension and exhaustion were palpable as they stepped through the puddle into the gate room. Sheppard couldn't help but notice that no one would meet his eyes; he glanced up toward Elizabeth's office and was surprised to find her leaning heavily on the catwalk railing.

Weir sighed heavily as their happy faces fell when they realized something was definitely going on. "Nice to have you all back. Come up to the conference room for a debriefing."

"Sure, right after we get back from the infirmary," John stated as he cocked an eyebrow at her odd command.

"No Col, now."

That got everyone's attention; the first order of business upon returning from a mission was always a post-mission check up lest they bring back some unknown and deadly antigen. They silently trudged up the steps after shooting each other a 'what the hell' look. The expedition leader had already taken a seat at the far end of the table and had her head buried in her hands when they got there.

"Dr. Weir?"

Ronan's prompt received no response; it was obvious the she was off in her own little world.

_Elizabeth grabbed for a consol as the control room shuddered again. She risked letting go with one hand as the shaking continued and reached for her radio, "Lt?"_

"_I don't know ma'am, it may have been a secondary explosion or we may have lost part of the ceiling. I'll get back to you." _

"_How many people do we have left in there?"_

_Chuck looked up after studying the life signs detector for several seconds, "We have four ma'am. Lt Black thinks it will be another twenty-five minutes before they can enlarge the whole enough to get the medical equipment in and everyone out safely."_

"_Major, come in please." When there was no response, Weir touched her earpiece again, "Major? Doctor?" _

_Chuck looked up expectantly as static continued over the line, "should I tell Lt Black to hurry up ma'am?"_

_Weir nodded, "and tell them I'm on my way."_

"Elizabeth!"

Weir jerked back to reality, and stared at the team, not realizing they'd been standing there for a solid two minutes.

"Elizabeth, what's going on, and why the hell didn't you call us if it's got you this freaked out?" Weir wasn't the only one that was freaked out, her behavior was seriously unnerving Sheppard and the rest of the team.

"We tried," she whispered quietly. She bit her lip as she locked eyes with Sheppard, "there was an accident yesterday afternoon, an explosion in one of the ancient labs."

Even Rodney and Ronan dropped their heads at the news; unfortunately this type of accident was much more common than any of them were comfortable with, but it must have been really bad if Weir was this distraught.

"Who did we lose?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "no one… yet, but there were seven injured, two severely."

"What did the Doc say about the injured, they going to make it?"

"He didn't say anything."

They waited for the other shoe to drop, there was definitely more going on than anyone would say. Teyla cocked her head, "What is it that you are not telling us, Dr. Weir?"

Elizabeth dropped her head into her hands again, "Carson and Major Lorne were first on the scene so they went in to secure the area and organize triage. There were secondary explosions, both were injured."

John was out of the room before the words were out of her mouth, the rest of his team close on his heels. Carson and Evan were both well liked throughout the base; and while Lorne was military and therefore somewhat used to being injured, Carson was not. Sheppard didn't waste any energy on breathing as he sprinted for the infirmary; he knew Elizabeth would have given him more information if he'd waited around, but it wasn't information that he needed right now, it was reassurance.

He skidded to a halt just inside the infirmary door; his eyes scanned the beds looking for one particular face. Several of the scientists occupied of beds in the main portion of the room. Lorne was sprawled out on the one closest to the door a large white pad of gauze covered the area above his left eye, a deep bruising peeking from beneath it, and his left arm encased in a padded immobilizer.

He cracked an eye open at the commotion Elizabeth and the team made entering the infirmary. "Col, I'm sorry sir, I-" He felt gentle hands push him back down as he tried to sit up.

"Where is he?"

Lorne dipped his head, "still in the ICU, sir."

John disappeared before anyone could stop him.

"Lorne, what happened? It wasn't my lab, was it?

"Rodney," Teyla gently admonished. She knew the man wasn't nearly as insensitive as he often seemed, he simply didn't know how to handle certain types of stress. "Major, tell us what happened."

Evan sank back into the bed; his head and shoulder throbbing in time and varying for the majority of his attention.

_Lorne stepped from the shower after his mid-afternoon work out enjoying the lingering relaxation from the warm water. There were definitely perks to having your boss off-world, being a few minutes late getting back to the office being the main one; not that Sheppard was exactly strict on things like that. He dressed quickly and headed toward the control room; no need to be too late._

_An explosion shook the hallway just as he reached the transporter; instinctively he knew that it had come from several levels below him. He stepped from the transporter on what he hoped was the right level only to run straight into Dr Beckett. "Doc?"_

"_Dr. Marsh asked me to come down and help with a piece of ancient technology, something must have gone wrong."_

_The Major nodded as they jogged in the direction Carson had been heading. "Got you're kit with you Doc?"_

"_Aye, always do when it comes to ancient technology." He patted the bag that was slung over his shoulder as they rounded the corner and were surrounded by a cloud of smoke and debris. Carson looked around, spotting a couple of the engineers unconscious a little further into the lab. "We need to get them out of here Major; this room doesn' look very stable. I'll check them out, you move them."_

_Lorne coughed and quickly covered his mouth and nose with his jacket, "You got it Doc, just be careful." He quickly grabbed the nearest scientist and dragged him further down the hall once Beckett had cleared him to be moved. He reached for his radio as he moved back into the room, "Dr Weir?"_

"_Yes, Major?"_

"_There was an explosion in an ancient lab on level 2 ma'am. Dr Beckett and I are getting people out, but we could use some help down here."_

"_Understood Major, a team is on their way. Be careful."_

"_Yes ma'am, Lorne out."_

_Beckett had cleared two more for transport by the time he made it back into the lab; he grabbed both by the collars and began dragging them back toward the hall. A low rumble echoed through the level just as he deposited the two in relative safety. "Doc! Time to go!"_

_Evan raced back into the lab to find Carson leaning over the last two scientists, trying to shield them from the falling chunks of the ceiling. He started toward the trio only to dive to the side three steps later to avoid falling debris._

"So that's when you and Dr Beckett were injured," Ronan asked, trying to clarify.

"Yes and no; I apparently dislocated my shoulder and I know the Doc was hit by some debris, but he wouldn't admit to being hurt."

Elizabeth hadn't missed that Lorne's voice continued to get weaker as the story progressed. Everyone in the lab had been unconscious when they'd finally gotten through the door, and the Major had only woken for the first time a couple of hours ago. According to Dr Brio, the young man had a whopper of a concussion. "Major, why don't you rest now, you can finish filling us in later."

"Yes ma'am." Evan's eyes drifted closed before he'd finished answering her.

Rodney took the opportunity to wander over to the ICU as Teyla and Ronan submitted to their post-mission check ups. He paused in the doorway, not wanting to interrupt a private moment, even though he knew Beckett was still out cold. What he didn't expect to see was Sheppard standing frozen by the bedside, his eyes glued to Carson's battered face and his own face a mask of absolute fear. "Sheppard?"

John looked up with a deer-in-the-headlights expression, "I can't... he looks so… I mean, every inch…" He fled the room without ever having put together a coherent sentence.


	2. Chapter 2

Rodney stood there in shock for a moment; even his genius level brain needed some extra time to process what had just happened. He gave up after only a couple of seconds deciding that his time was better spent running down the Col than it was trying decipher John's unintelligible ramblings. "Sheppard! Wait, WHAT?!"

John stopped his forward movement, but paced the width of the corridor instead. "I can't do it, I can't see him like that, he's supposed to be safe here; I- I'm scared, ok." The last statement was punctured by John throwing his hands in the air.

That's when Rodney snapped, he smacked John upside the head, effectively halting his pacing. The Col sputtered indignation at being hit, but Rodney launched into his rant before he could come to terms with what had just happened, "and here I was operating under the assumption that the Air Force requires some level of intelligence to fly their planes." His arms waved about the air, emphasizing his point, until they stopped abruptly and he poked John in the chest none too gently, "this… isn't… about… you! Right now, this is about Carson and _he_ needs our support, no matter how much it scares us to be there. So, sometime today-and it sure as hell better be before he wakes up- you're going to march your sorry ass back into that room and be there for your boyfriend."

John's brain was so busy processing the fact that Rodney was yelling at him that it didn't bother to stop his mouth from muttering, "not like he'll even know I'm there."

"Bullshit! How many times has he-" Rodney stopped mid-diatribe and put a hand to his ear, "McKay… yes, yes, fine, I'll be there in a minute." He took a deep breath to compose himself, "John, you're one of my best friends, but don't screw this up because you think you're not strong enough."

McKay walked away, surprised he'd been that forceful with Sheppard; in truth they were all scared, Beckett's injuries weren't trivial. The fact that Sheppard had admitted to being scared truly unnerved the scientist though; the Col was never scared, or least he never showed it. Something was definitely going on here.

John stood for a minutes, staring after Rodney; his friend was right he was being selfish, Carson needed him right now and all he could focus on was his own fear at seeing Carson like this. He felt the anger begin to boil with in him; anger at the situation, anger at himself, anger at whoever was responsible for this mess, and finally anger at Carson for always trying to save everyone, no matter what the cost to himself. Sheppard's anger at himself grew exponentially at that last thought; he had no right to be angry at Carson.

Beckett could no more deny his need to help people than the Col could deny his need to fly, probably even more so.

John stomped off in the direction of Elizabeth's office, desperately needing to find an outlet for his frustration. He wasn't any good to Carson in this state of mind, but at the very least he could make sure that whoever was responsible for this mess, never made the same mistake again.

Weir jumped to her feet at the near glass-shattering slam of her office door, "John!?"

"I wanna know whose fault this was and I want to know now!"

Elizabeth sank back into her desk chair; she wasn't all that surprised that the usually so-laid-back-he's-positively-horizontal man was this agitated. Carson had become his world. "John, I know you don't want to hear this, but this wasn't anyone's fault. Near as we can tell, a compound left by the ancients degraded and reacted to the light when they began exploring the lab."

John visibly deflated; taking out frustration on a corporeal entity wasn't exactly all that satisfying. He leaned against the railing watching the activity of the gate room below; he looked up briefly when the expedition leader settled next to him, "I don't know how to do this, Elizabeth."

"Well, maybe you should ask Carson." She laid a tentative hand on his shoulder, aware that an explosion was still bubbling just below the surface.

"Huh?"

Screw whatever explosion was coming, now the man was just being flat out ignorant. She took her hand off his shoulder and swatted her military CO upside the head, hitting the exact spot that Rodney had.

"OW!"

Weir let out an exasperated sigh, "John, how many times have you been injured since you and Carson have been together?"

"I don't know, three or four…" realization was slowly beginning to dawn on Sheppard.

Elizabeth nodded, "at least that. And how do you think Carson feels seeing you like that?"

"Probably the exact way I'm feeling right now," Sheppard mumbled. He hung his head in shame for the second time that day, knowing that what Elizabeth said was true; Carson hurt as much, if not more, than he did every time he managed to get injured. "But he's a professional right; he can ignore those feelings."

She fought the urge to smack him again. "Yes, Carson is a professional, but he also loves you very much. Don't think for one second that he is the type of man that can just turn those feelings off any time he wants to." She shoved him toward the door, "Now go, get this figured out, and quickly. There are a lot of people on this base that will have a hard time forgiving you if you hurt him."

Sheppard had no desire to hurt Carson, or keep hurting him as was apparently the case. It had never occurred to John what Carson went through every time he was injured; he'd always put down the other man's subsequent overprotective streak as an extension of Beckett's profession, not his romantic feelings. But now that he knew what his lover felt every time, John wasn't sure he could he could put either of them through this ever again.

John's feet automatically moved him toward the gym, his second favorite place to release some frustration, the first being he and Carson's bedroom of course. He wasn't all that surprised to find Teyla and Ronan sparring when he got there; the mission had been uneventful and he knew that his friends had some pent up energy to release.

Teyla called a halt to the bout when she saw Sheppard standing in the doorway. "Why are you not with Dr. Beckett, Col?"

John couldn't help but blurt out what had been on his mind since he'd left Elizabeth's office, "I'm going to break up with Carson."

Ronan and Teyla stilled, staring at him in shock. Finally Teyla dropped her sticks and stalked over to John; she reached out and smacked the back of his head without hesitation.

"People have _got_ to stop doing that!" The Col reached up to rub at the tender spot on his skull, he withdrew his hand fully expecting to find blood there. "Seriously, what was that for?"

Teyla gave him a disapproving look, "I have often seen Dr McKay perform that action when he believes that you are acting unintelligently. I felt that it fit this situation perfectly. You and Dr Beckett appear to have a very loving and complete relationship, why would you choose to give that up?"

"Because now I know what he goes through every time I land my sorry ass in the infirmary; I can't put him through that anymore. And I know I couldn't handle it if this happened again." John picked up the sticks Teyla had dropped and began running through some of the moves he'd learned over the last two years; he gave Ronan a grateful smile when the ex-runner stepped in to counter his movements and their motions became a full on sparring bout.

Teyla watched impassively as the fight progressed. "Col, do you honestly believe that either of your feelings will change simply because you are no longer a couple?"

Her question took Sheppard by surprise, who let his guard down long enough for Ronan to floor him. "I think I prefer getting smacked in the head," he muttered as he slowly hauled himself back to his feet. He let Teyla's words sink in as his two friends stared at him expectantly, "I guess I didn't think that one through all the way."

Ronan gave him an approving stare and laid a heavy hand on his shoulder. He hadn't known either man for very long before they had become a couple, but even he could see the positive changes the relationship had wrought in both men. "Before the wraith… before I was a runner, I was engaged to a healer on Sateda. I saw how worried she was every time I had a training accident, but she told me once that the joy she got from caring for me and the closeness that developed between us because of it far outweighed the negatives."

John looked between Teyla and Ronan before leaving without a word. He moved toward the infirmary, silently thanking every deity that he'd ever heard of that his friends were so good at making him think things through and that they cared enough about him to keep him from ruining his life.


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of nearby pacing broke through the Major's half-sleep state; he groaned softly, that was the problem with the infirmary, it was never quiet enough to get any real rest around here. He cracked an eye open and waited for the figure to come into focus, "Col?"

John gave him a slightly sheepish grin, "Sorry Lorne, didn't mean to wake you."

Evan waved him off with his good hand, "I'm surprised you're not in the Doc's room, sir."

"Oh- I- ah, how are you feeling?"

Even the pounding in his head didn't stop Lorne from realizing that something was up with Sheppard, but he and Beckett's relationship wasn't exactly any of his business. "I've been better sir," he admitted honestly. "You know Col, the Doc surprised me in there. After all the stories I'd heard about him off world, I kinda expected him to crack under the pressure, but he was completely calm and collected. Hell, he was way more useful in there than I was."

John smiled proudly, that was his Carson alright; you put him into a true emergency and the man excelled, especially if he had a patient to take care of. "What exactly happened in there Major?"

"Well, I guess I must have been knocked unconscious when the room started caving the first time…

_The first thing he was aware was the absolute silence of the room, it was almost as if time had stopped completely; the second thing he was aware of was a white hot pain shooting down his arm and across his chest when he tried to move. Lorne couldn't help the small cry of pain and surprise that passed his lips._

_Beckett was at his side a second later, "lay still lad, and let me get a look at ye."_

_Evan was ready for another spike of pain, but the doctor's hands were surprisingly gentle as he examined the shoulder without jostling it. He couldn't see much in near darkness that coated the room, but he was able to discern that the Scot wasn't moving with his usual grace. "You hurt at all, Doc?"_

"_Nay lad, just a couple of bruises." Carson quickly steered the conversation back to the Major's injuries; "well son, it looks as if you've dislocated you're shoulder. Let me check on Marsh and Beverly and then we'll get it put back in for ye. The door appears to be sealed so we may be stuck in here for a wee bit."_

_Lorne nodded as Beckett moved across the lab to check on the two scientists; he'd heard that putting a shoulder back in socket could be extremely painful, but he had to wonder if it could be even half as bad as having the damn thing out. His heart beat a little faster as he heard a very long string of what could only be Gaelic curses._

"_Major, if you're up for it, I could use a hand over here."_

_Beckett's voice was solid, but Evan was able to note the increased edge of fear in it. "Be right there, Doc." He cradled his arm to his chest as securely as possible before gently getting to his feet; unfortunately his precautions didn't help all that much as the fire continued to radiate from his shoulder. He quickly moved to where Carson was kneeling by Dr Beverly Seaver's legs and took the proffered flashlight. Lorne let out a low whistle as the beam caught the blood covering the doctor's face and arm; even in the brief flash of light, he could see the deep bruising already beginning to form._

"_Doc, you know you're bleeding?"_

"_Aye, I'm aware of that son, but right now Beverly needs my attention more. Shine the torch just there, would you."_

_Evan moved the beam of light down to Seaver's leg where Carson had indicated and saw the pool of blood growing by the second. While Atlantean architecture was beautiful, it apparently made for some very dangerous debris when blown apart. He watched in fascination as Beckett's nimble hands worked within Seaver's leg, repairing the blood vessels and effectively halting the life-threatening bleeding._

_Carson sat back and scrutinized his handiwork; "Aye, that'll do until we can get her into surgery; now let me get a batter look at that shoulder of yours." He re-claimed the flashlight and quickly dug through his medical kit. A minute later he was swearing again, this time in English, "bloody hell; well Major, it appears I dinna have any muscle relaxants, and I'm afraid that shoulder's not going back in without them. I'll just bind it up for ye until we get out of here."_

_Lorne watched silently as Beckett made short work of securing his arm to his chest; it wasn't a complete fix, but it did manage to take some of the weight off the abused joint. When Carson turned back from repacking his kit, Evan noted the fresh blood that continued to wash over his face and arm; "Shouldn't we get you taken care of now, Doc?"_

"_Well unless you know how to stitch one-handed lad, I'll just wrap these for now." Beckett chuckled as he withdrew some smaller pressure bandages from the side pocket of his kit. Carson's head jerked up at an odd sound a fraction of a second before a concussive blast knocked both men off their feet._

"You've, ah, got yourself one heck of a guy there, sir."

"Yeah, I do." He forgot what he was going to say next as a small commotion erupted in Carson's ICU room; John took off in that direction without excusing himself, he knew Lorne would understand.

Elizabeth struggled to reassure Carson even as she tried to hold him immobile; she knew the medical staff was still concerned about renewed internal bleeding. A few minutes ago, he'd woken enough to begin tossing and muttering incoherently about Dr Seavers and Major Lorne. "They're both fine Carson, please calm down, you did a great job in there."

But Beckett continued to thrash for another minute before his eyes flashed open in a brief moment of lucidity. He looked straight at Weir, a mixture of fear and hope in his bright blue eyes, "John?"

Elizabeth's hear sank, "He'll be here, Carson, he'll be here."

The doctor drifted off again but continued to call for his lover.

Sheppard heard Carson calling for him as he neared the ICU and broke into a run; he slid to a halt next to the head of the bed and took Beckett's hand from Elizabeth. "Shh, babe, I'm here, I've got you.

But the dark haired man was once again unresponsive; he'd passed out thinking that John wasn't there for him, and that ate at Sheppard's heart more than anything else could have.

John alternated pacing by Carson's bedside and trying to find a comfortable position in the hard plastic chair that would allow him contact with his love. He still had just the barest touches of a headache from his teams' collective assault on the back of his skull; he really was going to kill Rodney for teaching them that. His mind replayed what each of the others had told him, he knew that they had been right and that he had been acting like an idiot not wanting to see Carson. But that didn't change his feelings that Carson shouldn't have been injured in the first place.

Sheppard gently ran a hand through Carson's hair, careful to avoid the cuts and bruising on the left side of his face; he and Lorne could almost be twins right now. Further visual inspection of his boyfriend's body revealed several portions of gauze encompassing his left arm; there was bruising there too, and from what Dr Brio said the colors covering the left side of his torso from the internal bleeding were quite impressive as well. John hadn't had the courage to look yet. That leg was going to keep Beckett off duty for awhile too; he was now the proud owner of an inter-medullary rod- whatever that was-, a metal plate, and six screws in his right lower leg. The doctor was going to have a tough time of things for awhile, but John vowed to be there for him through it all; of course, Carson would most likely be ready to kill him after the first two days.

The Col finally pulled the chair around so that it faced the bed; he leaned forward, took Carson's hand in his own and rested his cheek on them both. "I'm sorry I'm such a dope Carson, but I love you more than you know."


	4. Chapter 4

**Last installment, hope it's been at least bearable to read. I haven't seen all the episodes so I know the voices aren't spot on, if anyone has tips for fixing that please let me know.**

John had to wait another thirty-six hours before he saw those blue eyes that he loved so much, and then it was only for a few seconds. He stroked the injured man's face trying to coax them open again, "come on babe, I know you're in there."

Sheppard couldn't help but be amazed at the changes in him that a few months with Carson had brought about. In previous relationships he'd always been the hands off type of guy; he hated cuddling, despised PDAs, and had never been one for pet names or endearments. But something about Carson had changed all that. Hell, the first time he'd met the guy, seen that shamed look in his eyes after Carson had nearly killed him and General O'Neill, it'd been all he could do to keep from drawing the Scot into a fierce hug and telling him everything was going to be alright. It'd taken John awhile to get over the shock of those feelings. He hadn't even really tried to examine these changes in himself, he hadn't needed too, the answer was obvious, John wanted Carson and that's what Carson needed. Carson wore his heart and emotions on his sleeve, including his need to be loved, to be touched. The Col was just glad that after nine months of no contact with Earth, they'd rescinded the "don't ask, don't tell" rule- he wasn't sure he would have been able to keep this kind of love to himself; and of course, none of his motives had been at all personal. In reality, he'd seen the looks several of his men were shooting at each other- apparently he was only blind to the looks that Carson had been sending his way- and figured it was the least he could do to make their lives a little better. Thankfully, Elizabeth had agreed. Now six months later there were nearly as many gay couples as there were straight.

John was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice a pair of brilliant blue eyes watching him carefully. Carson finally got frustrated waiting for John to notice him and gave his hand a weak squeeze; he couldn't help the amused chuckle when John jumped three feet in the air.

"Carson!"

Beckett's mouth moved but no sound came out, John immediately ran for ice chips and a nurse. He slipped one into the doctor's mouth on his return and resumed stroking Carson's face. "You've been down for awhile, babe, give it a few minutes," he whispered when Carson continued trying to speak. "I hear you did great in there; both Major Lorne and Dr Seavers are doing great. They actually released Lorne this morning."

Being as stubborn as ever, Carson continued to test his voice, "your team," he finally managed to ask with a quiet croak.

Sheppard shook his head as he delivered a couple more ice chips to the doctor's mouth; leave it to Carson to worry about others when he was the one that had very nearly died less than forty-eight hours ago, "not a scratch on any of us. We've all been worried about you though; you are absolutely _not_ allowed to get hurt ever again."

"Aye, I'll do my best." Beckett winced as an errant pain signal forced its way through the medication induced haze; he saw John start to call for the nurse, "I don't need anymore meds, luv."

Sheppard started to argue with him but he could see the firm set of his boyfriend's jaw and knew there was no way he was going to win this argument. "Fine, how bout I just talk to you then?"

"Aye, that'd be lovely."

John turned Carson's hand over in his own as he wondered how to start his conversation, let alone whether now was the best time to have it. He looked up to see Carson eyeing him suspiciously, "I- I never realized how hard it was to see the person you love injured." He dropped his eyes back to their joined hands, "I never realized how strong you are; I didn't think I could handle it."

Beckett's brain was stuck on repeat about fifteen words back; John _loved_ him! Sure their relationship was going great, they were even talking about moving in together, but that was the first time John had said anything about love. Carson dragged himself back to reality as he realized that John was still speaking.

"-almost did something incredibly stupid until our friends beat some sense into me," Sheppard absently rubbed the back of his head. "I love you Carson, and I will always be here for you, no matter what."

"Really?" Carson ignored the fact that he sounded like a three year old that had just been told he could go to the candy store.

John gave him that patented flyboy smile and placed a tender kiss on his forehead, "yeah really. Now hurry up and get better so I can take you home; I hate sleeping without you."

Carson fought the sudden wave of exhaustion that overwhelmed him, "aye, love you too John," he managed to murmur before a healing sleep once again claimed him.


End file.
